Dick Goddard Hopes His Water Rescue Story Will Save Lives

MEDINA TWP., Ohio– Dick Goddard is the dean of Cleveland weather and has worked to protect others from dangerous weather situations for over 50 years.

While heading home after work on Monday night, a night spent warning others about wild weather in our area, he found himself in trouble from a flash flood.

As he drove on the Interstate 71 exit ramp to State Route 3 in Medina Township, he was following a car and noticed a little water.

Before he knew it, water came rushing out of nowhere and began to enter his car. Goddard called for help as he wasn’t the only one experiencing trouble.

The water kept rising in his car and shut down all the power. He could not even open a window. Rescue teams came and had to use a boat to reach the car and busted out his window to pull him out. Goddard said the water was up to his neck by this time.

Goddard said he drives this same route every day and has never seen anything like this.

Rescue teams had to help a man who climbed a tree so he wouldn’t be swept away from the current.

Sergeant Timothy Dearmitt from the Ohio State Highway Patrol said, “He’s very lucky. It was pretty much a flash flood. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If he gets out of the car, as hard as the current was, he could get swept away and that would have been a lot worse situation. If he stays in the car, it starts filling up. I think we got to him just in the nick of time.”

Goddard was taken to the hospital for hypothermia and is doing well.

He wants everyone to know: “Don’t underestimate the power of water.” If it can happen to him, it can happen to anyone.